Asphalt-cutting mechanism.



PATENTED OCT. 9, 1906.

J. G. MERTENS. ASPHALT CUTTING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR.21,1906.

III

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN C. MERTENS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOSEPHHANR-EDDY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

ASPHALT-CUTTING MECHANISM- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 9, 1906.

Application filed April 21, 1906- Serial No. 313,013.

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN C. .MERTENs, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Asphalt-CuttingMechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This device is particularly intended for use in cutting out asphalt orsimilar substances from freight-cars in which it is shipped in bulk,although the device might be used for cutting substances out of otherreceptacles or vehicles from which it is difficult to cut out theasphalt by means of picks, spades, or similar hand implements.

In the shipping of asphalt the substance, which is of a more or lessviscous nature, becomes solidly packed or caked in the car, so that whenit is time to removethe same the asphalt will have assumed the form of ahard compact cake, filling the car from end to end, and in thiscondition it is a very difficult and laborious operation to pry or digit out of the car by the use of ordinary implements.

The object of the present invention is to provide a cutter for use inremoving asphalt which can be easily shifted from car to car and can bemoved to any position upon a car, thereby enabling all of the asphalt orsimilar substance to be cut out Without difficulty and in a much morerapid, economical, and satisfactory manner than has hitherto been thecase.

Other objects of the invention are to improve the construction andarrangement of the trackways along which the cutting mechanism is movedand to improve the construction and arrangement of the device as a wholeand of the individual parts thereof.

The invention consists in the features of construction and combinationof parts here inafter described and claimed.

In'the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevationof the cutting mechanismmounted upon a freight-car having a metallic body, the car being shownin section. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the screw andgear mechanism; Fig. 3, an edge view of the cutting-spade; and Fig. 4, acrosssectional view of the gear-wheel hub and screw-stem, showing thespline or key connecting the two.

The cutting mechanism consists of a spade 1, having side plates 2 atsubstantially right angles to each other, which side plates converge toa point 3, giving the entire spade a wedgc-shaped formation. The sideplates are sharpened to provide cutting edges 4, and at the inner angleof the two side cuttingplates is a bulb or socket 5, which fills thecorner and is upwardly tapered from a point 6 to an upwardly-projectingsocket 7 of sufficient size to receive and hold the end of a feed-screw8. By reason of the taper indicated the bulb or socket will tend toforce back the asphalt cut by the knife-edges in the form of awedge-shaped block, as shown in Fig. 1. The feed-screw is rotatablymounted and held within the socket 7 by means of a pin 9, which enters arounded groove 10 in the end of the feed-screw, which permits thefeed-screw to revolve and prevents the withdrawal ofthe feed-screw fromthe spade and feeds without revolving it. The feed-screw terminates atits upper end in a stem or shank 11, and the screw and shank areprovided with a longitudinallyextending groove 12. I

The stem is slidably mounted within the hub 13 of a bevel-facedgear-wheel 14 and is compelled to revolve therewith by reason of aspline or key 15, which enters the groove and compels the rotation ofthe feed-screw with the gear-wheel, but permits the feed-screw to slideup and down during rotation. The feed-screw is mounted within abearingblock 16, preferably of hardened steel, which block is mountedwithin a slidable cast-iron body-block 17, provided at its upper endwith a circular neck or flange 18. The hub 13 is journaled within asocket or cup 19 and rests upon a suitable bearing-washer 20, and thehub is further provided with a shoulder 21, which affords additionalbearing-surface for the rotation of the gear-wheel. The socket 19 isprovided with a flange 22, which is bolted or otherwise secured to anelongated plate 23, which latter is supported upon I beams 24,'which areof sufficient length to extend transversely from side to side of the carand are spaced from one another a suit able width to support thebody-block 17 and permit it to be moved or slid along between clamps 25,which are capable of being tightened by means of nuts 26, clamping theplate and the mechanism supported thereby firmly to the I-beams. Theplate is supported above the I-beams by means of rails or bars 27, whichfurnish a bearing-surface for the movement of the mechanism.

In suitable proximity to the gear-wheel are. a pair of uprights orstandards 28, which are bolted or otherwise rigidly secured to theelongated supporting-plate 23, and between the standards is a cross-bar29, which bridges the space between the standards and has securedthereto on its under face a journal-box 30, which supports the end of apower-shaft 31, which has mounted thereon a beveled pinion 32, meshingwith the bevel-faced gearwheel- 14. Rotation is imparted to thepower-shaft by means of a motor 33, which is likewise bolted to theelongated supporting-plate, and intermediate the pinion and the motor isa clutch 34, of any suitable character, adapted to be actuated by meansof a lever 35, all of which are supported upon and movable with thesupporting-plate.

The ends of the I-beams are clamped to flanges 36 on the car-body 37 bymeans of clamps 38, which are adapted to be tightened by means of nuts39, screw-threaded onto a clamping bolt or rod 40. This arrangementpermits the mechanism to be supported in any suitable position on thecar.

In operation the I-beams are clamped to a car containing asphalt in bulkin suitable position to begin the work, and the feed mechanism and spadeare then moved to proper transverse position with respect to the car.The motor is then set in motion, and when it is desirable to begin thedigging operation the clutch is thrown into position to transmit powerto the gear-wheel, which in revolving feeds the spade forward and forcesit down into the asphalt, causing the cutting or knife edges of thespade to cut out a wedge-shaped block of asphalt from the mass containedin the car. In loading the asphalt it is customary to provide an openspace for the initial operation of the spade by placing a bulkheadacross one corner of the car, and after a start has been made within thespace provided for forcing back the severedblock, as shown in Fig. 1,the cutting operation may proceed with great rapidity. The tapered bulbsqueezes the severed block or wedge of asphalt back and away from themass as it is severed therefrom by the knife, and this operation willcontinue until a complete block or wedge of asphalt has been cut fromtop to bottom of the mass, after which the spade can be raised byreversing the feed of the screw, for which purpose a motor or engineadapted to be reversed should be employed. This motor may be asteam-engine or electric motor or a motor of any style adapted to feedthe screw in either direction. After the first out has been made withthe spade thecutting mechanism can be shifted slightly along theI-beams, which form guiderails, and a second out can then be made, andthe work will continue in the same manner until the cutting mechanismhas been moved back as far as it will be possible to move it along theI-beams, the limit of movement being reached when the motor is broughtinto line with the side of the car. .When the limit of movement has beenreached in one direction, the entire mechanism carried by the elongatedsupporting-plate 23 will be swung around the neck 18 of the body-blockinto the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, after which thework can be continued until all of the asphalt has been cut from thecar. In swinging the mechanism around the supporting-plate will bear 'aainst the rounded wall of the neck, and the at bottom of the socket 19will bear against the flat top rim or edge of the neck, and the shank ofthe feedscrew will lend additional support during the turning operation,which arrangement provides a rigid pivotal mounting and prevents theunsupported end of the mechanism from sagging or dropping, which wouldbe the case if an insuflicient pivotal mounting were provided. Byconstructing the mechanism in this manner it is possible to'move thecuttingspade into any desired position of adjustment, and theguide-rails or I-beams need not be of any greater length than the widthof the car, which of course renders the operation of moving and securingthe I-beams in place much simpler and easier than would be the case ifit were necessary to provide rails or guides of sufficient length toaccommodate a cutting mechanism which could not be shifted as indicated.

It will be seen that the mechanism is not only extremely simple inconstruction, but is also compact and adapted to be moved or shifted asan integral whole, which greatly simplifies its adjustment and use, andthereby increases its efliciency.

What I regard as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent; is

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of guide-rails, asupportingplate, a feed-screw around which the supporting-plate can bemoved as a pivot, mechanism carried by the supporting-plate foractuating the feed-screw, and a cutter at the end of the feed-screw,substantially as described.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of guide-rails, asupportingplate, a feed-screw around which the supporting-plate can bemoved as a pivot, mechanism carried by the supporting-plate foractuating the feed-screw, and a cutter at the lower end of thefeed-screw of wedge-shaped formation having side walls sharpened toprovide knife-edges for severing a wedgeshaped block of material,substantially as described.

ITO

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of supportingguide-rails, a feedscrew, a mounting for the feed-screw adapted to beshifted with respect to the guide-rails, a supporting-plate adapted tobe swung around the feed-screw as a pivot, mechanism carried by thesupporting-plate for actuating the feed-screw, and a cutting implementon the lower end of the feed-screw, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination of supportingguide-rails, a feedscrew, a mounting for the feed-screw adapted to beshifted with respect to the guide-rails, a supporting-plate adapted tobe swung around the feed-screw as a pivot, mechanism carried by thesupporting-plate for actuating the feed-screw, and a wedge-shaped spadecarried by the feed-screw and having diverging side plates withknife-edges and an upwardlytapering bulb-socket occupying the innerangle between the diverging side plates, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the class described, in combination with feedingmechanism, a wedge-shaped spade having diverging side walls withknife-edges and a bulb upwardly tapering from the knife-edges andoccupying the inner angle between the diverging walls and terminating ina socket adapted to re ceive the feeding mechanism, substantially asdescribed.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination of two I-beamsforming guiderails and adapted to be secured to the opposite sides ofthe car, a feed-screw vertically extending between the I-beams, abearing for the feed-screw adapted to be shifted with respect to theI-beams, a supporting-plate adapted to swing around the feedscrew as apivotal center and adapted to be clamped in adjusted position totheI-beams, mechanism.

carried by the supporting-plate for actuating the feed-screw, and acutter on the end of the feed-screw, substantially as described.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair ofI-beams adapted to be clamped to the sides of a car, a body-blocksupported between the beams, a feed-screw extending vertically throughthe body-block and having a screw bearing therein and terminating in asmooth shank, a supportingplate adapted to swing around the shank as anaxial center, means for clamping the supporting-plate to the I-beams inadjusted position, a gear-wheel on the feed-screw shank fitted theretoto permit endwise movement of the feed-screw shank, a pinion forimparting rotation to the gear-wheel, a motor carried by thesupporting-plate for actuating the pinion, and a cutter on the end ofthe feed-screw, substantially as described.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of two I-beamsadapted to be supported upon a car-body, a body-block carried betweenthe flanges of the I-beams and provided with a tubular neck or collar, afeed-screw vertically extending through the body-block and terminatingin a shank, a supporting-plate adapted to swing around the collar andshank as an axis, a socket surrounding the shank and secured to thesupporting-plate, a gear-wheel keyed to the shank and provided with ahub journaled within the socket, a motor carried by thesupporting-plate, a shaft actuated by the motor, a pinion on the shaftmeshing with the gearwheel, and a cutter on the end of the feedscrew.

JOHN C. MERTENS.

Witnesses:

WALKER BANNING, SAMUEL W. BANNING.

